I have been holding off on this part of my writing assignment because I don't really know what to say....but, here goes nothing.

PART TWO : Your Personal Approach to Your Work

A.What inspires you to create? Is it the materials you use? The places you seeand visit? The people you know and meet? Your emotional state? Other artists’ work? The mark you make on the page?Form specific ideas about the act of making art, not generalized phrases that appear in so many statements

What inspires me to create is an urge to do it. There is no way to describe this, its just something in me that says you need to "make something" and I get the idea for what it is in my head and then every inch of my being feels the need to carry through with it. I am inspired be other artists who do good work, I sometimes feel that I could do what they did or I could do what they did in a better or new way. If something is particularly good I feel the need to do something to prove I am that good as well. I have this very competitive drive in creating art. I want to be the best and have the best work I can.

B.How has your art evolved in the 5 years? 1 year? 6 months? Pick those that are appropriate to the length of your career and write about them. What has stayed the same? What are common threads? What has changed a little? What has changed dramatically? How have you felt about your art along the way?

I guess it has really be 1 year in metalsmithing and object design but I honestly feel like this is the first time I am creating work. I want everything I create to not be "a school project", I want it to have a deeper emotional meaning to me so that the work is that much stronger. I want to do every thing I can do in a piece and I like to overextend my skill to see if I can handle it. I have been creating art since I was a child and I guess I have had professional training for about 6 years now. My work has always had a social criticism and a playful aspect that I want to retain, but it also shows my hand. Nothing is ever "perfect" looking, it has a look of humanity.

C.Describe the process of thinking about your work and how it comes togetherin your mind.Do not describe the actual making of the work. How do you begin an artwork? What inspires you to start it? Then, what is the first step? Is it a drawing? a photograph? a single mark?

I try to think about WHY I am creating the work and then I take that and see how far I can take it. I start to draw it out and I make charts and webs of the topic to refine the work. Then I just go at it and start to make tons of sketches and maquettes of the sketches to try and figure it out. I then start to work on it and if the material demands that I am unable to do this then I will go back and redesign and rethink. Sometimes what I design is not possible and I only find it out by doing it. Then I will make multiple versions to see which comes out the best and mix and match different elements so that everything comes out to be the best of every element I can do.

D.How do you physically go about putting a work of art together? What are the steps that are involved?Is this a process understood by the majority of people? Or would it be helpful for you to define it somehow? If so, try to find the words. Do you approach a traditional medium in a unique way?

I change it up a little bit every time. I really do a mix and match sort of thing where I will make multiples of each element and then go back and redesign the "final" version in order to make it the best of every other part of every sample I have made. I approach all mediums about the same way which is the interesting part. I will make different elements and features even in drawings I like to take pieces and trace them and move them or even physically stitch them together.

E.Thinking back and looking back on what you have written so far this week, select the points that you feel are most relevant and unique about how you work.

I think that part that is the most unique really is the way I mix and match elements.

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About Me

Hi, I am a 20 year-old first semester Junior/Senior at Towson University. I am currently majoring in Interdisciplinary Object Design and thinking about minoring in Physics. I graduated from the Fine Arts A.A. at Catonsville Community College.
Beyond school, I am a volunteer cheerleading coach. I have been in cheerleading for 14 years (starting when I was 6 years old).